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Science 7 December 1962:
Vol. 138. no. 3545, pp. 1103 - 1104
DOI: 10.1126/science.138.3545.1103
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Articles

Antarctica: The Microbiology of an Unfrozen Saline Pond

George H. Meyer 1, Marie B. Morrow 1, Orville Wyss 1, Thomas E. Berg 2, and Jack L. Littlepage 3

1 Department of Microbiology, University of Texas, Austin
2 Department of Geology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
3 Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University Stanford, California

A saline pond in a region in Antarctia where other lakes and ponds are frozen remains unfrozen at the prevailing low temperatures. The ecology of the pond is unique. A distinctive aerobic microbial population, though restricted to this natural habitat, adapts to growth in artificial culture. The growth habit of these organisms, as seen in nature and in laboratory culture, indicates a possible relationship between growth at high salt concentration, at low temperatures, and in media of low organic content.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Dynamic Chemical Equilibrium in a Polar Desert Pond: A Sensitive Index of Meteorological Cycles.
H. J. H. Harris, H. J. H. HARRIS, K. CARTWRIGHT, and T. TORII (1979)
Science 204, 301-303
   Abstract »    PDF »
Microbiology of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
N. H. Horowitz, R. E. Cameron, and J. S. Hubbard (1972)
Science 176, 242-245
   PDF »
Antarcticite: A New Mineral, Calcium Chloride Hexahydrate, Discovered in Antarctica.
T. Torii, T. Torii, and J. Ossaka (1965)
Science 149, 975-977
   Abstract »    PDF »


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